An Orlando Sentinel senior editor, in her 3, 2, 1 - College! blog on Feb. 27, asked whether all colleges should make it optional for applicants to submit standardized-test results from the ACT or SAT. Her high-school junior son is taking the tests. Currently, the vast majority of colleges and universities require either of the two exams as a way to give admissions officers insight into a student's ability to do college-level work. Many also require specific tests that measure a student's mastery of individual subjects such as math, science and history.

Seventeen years ago, Florida made a promise to its high-school students: If you work hard and make good grades, the state will help you take the next step. The deal came in the form of the Bright Futures scholarships, which help students pay tuition at universities, community colleges, even career-training academies here in Florida. One of the neatest things about Bright Futures was that it wasn't just for honor-roll students. Sure, Bright Futures helped the valedictorian who headed to the University of Florida.

For parents, here is a question-and-answer primer about standardized tests. Question: Why do school systems use standardized tests?Answer: The tests can yield information that can't be provided by tests that a teacher designs and gives only to her class. Because they are designed by people from outside the school system, they measure students against a state standard or national average. This gives district officials an idea of how their students and lessons stack up with others.But the test scores aren't intended to stand alone.

Fed up and fired up, algebra teacher Josh Katz this spring took to the stage for a 17-minute denouncement of what he called the "toxic culture of education" in Florida's public schools. Since then, nearly 30,000 people on YouTube have viewed the University High School teacher's impassioned attack on high-stakes testing, Common Core academic standards, private education companies and the false "narrative" that "public schools are teeming with horrible teachers. " His talk, delivered at a conference in Ohio, earned a mention from a Washington Post columnist, praise from education historian and activist Diane Ravitch and emails from colleagues saying "thanks for speaking up. " Katz posted a video of his talk on YouTube in May and linked to it on Facebook.

American schools got a tongue-lashing from U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett last week, largely because they have failed to raise scores on college entrance exams.''Test scores are in a dead stall,'' Bennett said as he released his agency's annual ranking of states on several indicators. ''In saying that I am disappointed, I think I speak for the American people. . . . We're paying top dollar to educate our children, but we're sure not getting top return.''Words like these make Monty Neill cringe.

Lake Brantley High School will hold two fall workshops to prepare students for standardized tests later this year.The Saturday workshops are aimed to drill students on their math and English skills for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.Students may attend either workshop on Sept. 27 or Oct. 4 and should sign up in the guidance department by Sept. 23. The workshops last from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. and are limited to 15 students a teacher.The cost is $48 for training on either math or English, or $88 for both.

LOS ANGELES -- At least 75 California teachers helped students cheat on standardized exams since a new testing program began five years ago, according to a newspaper report citing state documents. Incidents include teachers who gave hints by drawing on the blackboard or leaving posters on the wall, told students the answers and changed the students' responses themselves, the Los Angeles Times reported, referring to documents obtained through a Public Records Act request.

The National Science Foundation Thursday issued a scathing indictment of the mathematics and science tests used to evaluate most American students.It said the standardized tests distort the way those subjects are taught, stress almost none of the subject areas thought by educational experts to be most important, and may hurt the development of minority students.''It is a depressing picture,'' said George Madaus, the study's principal investigator. ''If we are going to realize the hopes of educational reformers in math and science, we are going to have to reform these materials and bring them up to date.

In her Monday commentary in The Palm Beach Post, Patricia Levesque disingenuously blamed local school districts for all the standardized tests in Florida that are angering parents and frustrating students. Ms. Levesque, who as an adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush saluted every "bold" education scheme from FCAT -based school grades to vouchers for religious schools, wrote, "Many districts require two to three times more tests than are required by the state. " In fact, local districts have little or no choice.

`We are heavily reliant on standardized testing . . .," says Bill Hiss, talking about education in America. Hiss is vice president of Bates College in Maine. "What we have learned at Bates," he argues, "is that this may be a monumental trip up a blind alley." As you can guess if you've read even a few of my columns, that "blind alley" comment about standardized testing got my attention. Like just about every educator who has spent years in the classroom and given thought to what was going on in students' heads, I oppose high-stakes standardized tests.

An Orlando Sentinel senior editor, in her 3, 2, 1 - College! blog on Feb. 27, asked whether all colleges should make it optional for applicants to submit standardized-test results from the ACT or SAT. Her high-school junior son is taking the tests. Currently, the vast majority of colleges and universities require either of the two exams as a way to give admissions officers insight into a student's ability to do college-level work. Many also require specific tests that measure a student's mastery of individual subjects such as math, science and history.

This year, when it comes to standardized testing, March roared in like a lion. On Wednesday, the College Board unveiled makeover plans for the SAT, shrinking the new test it plans to trot out in 2016 to two sections and an optional essay. Last weekend, Diane Ravitch, an education historian and national anti-testing advocate, begged Congress to look into high-stakes testing. Closer to home, Orange County School Board member Judge "Rick" Roach will call it quits at four terms and instead channel his energies into his campaign against standardized testing.

On Tuesday night, Andrea Rediske looked down at the bed where her 11-year-old son, Ethan, lay motionless. An oxygen machine hummed. Ethan occasionally moaned. They were the sounds of death. Andrea knew it was imminent. Yet there was a sense of peace inside the Maitland home. His mother, father and brothers had time to hug him. To comfort him. To say goodbye. But in the final days of Ethan's life, his parents also spent time on paperwork. Not for health care, but to try to explain to the state of Florida why Ethan couldn't take the FCAT equivalent of standardized tests for special-needs kids.

Florida's next generation of standardized tests will move a step closer to adoption next week when the state gets a look at the players that want to create FCAT's replacement. The goal is better tests by 2015 that demand more of Florida's public-school students and that are aligned with Common Core, new benchmarks for what students should learn in language arts and math. The tests are to be taken by nearly 2 million students in grades 3 to 11. But critics say the new tests could fuel the test-prep mania that now exists with the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

We asked you: Should severely disabled students take standardized tests? YES 9% NO 91% Health care or education? What disabled children ... are receiving is not an education but occupational therapy. It should be handled by the health-care system, not the schools. When the schools are required to give health care as well as an education, it puts an even greater financial burden on an already overburdened system. If these children were being handled by the appropriate system, they would not have to worry about standardized testing.

Last week, I shared with you the disturbing stories of profoundly disabled children being asked to take standardized tests that defy common sense. A tube-fed 10-year-old being asked questions about which fruit he would like to eat. A 9-year-old blind boy being asked to identify a picture of a monkey. The stories were as maddening as they were nonsensical. These are kids struggling to do things like lift their arms or keep their gaze focused. Yet our test-obsessed education system required specialized teachers to spend as much as two week's time administering tests that had no relevance to these kids' lives.

The main blueprint for the current reform movement is "Goals 2000: National Standards and Measures.'' The document emerged from the 1990 national education summit meeting. By ignoring the whole question of the purpose of education, the state governors and other conferees put their stamp of approval on the aimlessness that's plagued instruction since the Industrial Revolution. "Whatever it is you're doing,'' the summiteers said, "the key to reform lies in doing it longer and harder.'' That simplistic message has frozen even more solidly in place the worst aspects of American education.

Andrea Rediske knew her special-needs son had no business taking standardized tests. He was born with brain damage. He suffers from cerebral palsy and is legally blind. Just teaching Ethan to say "yes" or "no" - or even keep his gaze focused - was an accomplishment. So the idea of asking this 10-year-old to solve math equations on an FCAT test seemed ridiculous. But this is Florida - where the standardized test is king. So the state made Ethan take it anyway. He spent six hours over the course of two weeks being led through a test.

As a public-school educator with more than 40 years of experience working in schools and districts in seven states, I have seen a lot of changes during this time. I believe we must have accountability in all of our schools as every student needs and deserves it. Testing is obviously one way of measuring what students know and don't know. Teacher-developed tests and state standardized tests measure what and how much each student is learning. With assessment, educators understand and identify their students' academic needs and can implement early intervention and remediation, which is essential in assisting students in their learning process.